Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system wireless communication, and more particularly to an articulating information handling system housing wireless network antenna supporting beam forming.
Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Portable information handling systems are built in housings having a variety of configurations. A traditional clamshell configuration has a lid rotationally coupled to a main chassis portion so that the lid articulates between open and closed positions. In the open position, the lid rotates approximately 90 degrees to expose a display that presents visual information provided by processing components disposed in the main chassis portion. In the closed position, the lid rotates to bring the display against the main chassis portion to provide portability. Although conventional clamshell configurations provide ease of use and convenience, when the lid is free to rotate relative to the main chassis portion, the display supported by the lid generally does not offer a firm enough platform for accepting touchscreen inputs. For this and other reasons, “convertible” portable information handling systems include a touchscreen display in an articulating lid to generally provide rotation to a tablet-type of configuration in which the lid is supported by the main chassis portion to remain stationary during touch interfaces. For example, one option is to rotate the lid from the closed position for 360 degrees about a horizontal axis so that the display is exposed like a tablet and resting against the bottom surface of the main chassis portion. Another option is to rotate the lid 90 degrees about a horizontal axis to a conventional clamshell open position, then rotate the lid 180 degrees about a vertical axis so that the lid then rotates about the horizontal axis to the closed position with the display facing outward. Other options include the use of a support frame in the lid with a display that flips around within the support frame to provide a tablet mode.
One factor that has increased the acceptance by end users of portable information handling systems is the ability of wireless network interfaces to provide communication for portable systems so that awkward wired connections are not necessary for normal system use. Recent advances reflected by the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) specification provide multi-gigabit speed wireless communications through the unlicensed 60 GHz frequency band. WiGig tri-band enabled devices, which operate in the 2.4, 5 and 60 GHz bands, deliver data transfer rates of up to 7 Gbits/s while maintaining compatibility with existing Wi-Fi devices, such as 802.11n devices. Communication through the 60 GHz band provides rapid data transfers that support interfaces with peripheral devices such as displays and high definition televisions. Although the 60 GHz band provides high data transfer rates relative to the lower frequency 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, the effective range for communication at the higher 60 GHz frequency is substantially less than the lower frequencies. In order to obtain adequate effective communication at distances of 10 meters or greater, WiGig supports beamforming in the 60 GHz band, which moves beams of radio communication within the coverage area through modification of the transmission phase of individual antenna elements, known generally as phase array antenna beamforming. To establish communication with beamforming, the antenna array disposed in an information handling system generally has to direct communications towards a target antenna in line-of-sight of the front face of the antenna array.